Orlando Family Magazine

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Valentine’s Day
Decoded
The origin of Valentine’s Day is
said to date back to 240 A.D.
While still a mystery, one of
the prevalent stories revolves around
Roman Empire Claudius who didn’t want
men to marry during wartime because
he believed singles made better soldiers.
However, Bishop Valentine performed
secret weddings and, for this, was jailed
and executed on Feb. 14. While in jail, he
fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and
penned a letter to her signed “From your
Valentine.”
T In the Middle Ages, people drew
names from a bowl to see who would
be their Valentine and wore the name
on their sleeves for all to see ─ i.e. the
origin of the expression “to wear your
heart on your sleeve.”
T In the 1800s doctors advised
heartbroken patients to eat chocolate,
claiming it would soothe their pain. To
this day, many women find comfort in
a box of chocolates when dealing with
heartbreak!
T In addition to the U.S., Valentine’s
Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico,
United Kingdom, France, Australia,
Denmark, and Italy.
T Richard Cadbury produced the first
box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day
in the late 1800s. Now, approximately
35 million heart-shaped boxes of
chocolates are sold for this lovers’
holiday.
T 189 million stems of roses are sold in
the U.S. for Valentine’s Day. California
produces 60%, but many are
imported from South America. 15% of
women send themselves flowers on
Valentine’s Day.
T 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are
sent in the U.S. each year. That’s
second only to Christmas with 1.6
billion units, and followed by Mother’s
Day with 133 million units.
T Teachers receive the most Valentine’s
Day cards, followed by children,
mothers, wives, sweethearts, and
pets.
T Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian
city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s
lovers Romeo and Juliet lived,
receives about 1,000 letters
addressed to Juliet!
T 220,000 is the average number of
wedding proposals that take place on
Valentine’s Day each year.
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